BIST researchers receive awards and recognitions

By July 9, 2021July 23rd, 2021BIST

Nuria Montserrat from IBEC has won the National Research Award for Young Talent, Laura Lechuga from ICN2 was presented with the Burdinola Research Award, CRG has received the National Innovation Award for the Creation of a Science-Based Company, and Miquel A. Pericàs and Antonio Echavarren from ICIQ have become members of the Academia Europaea.

Last week, researchers from various BIST centres (IBEC, CRG, ICN2, ICIQ) received awards and recognitions for their outstanding and cutting edge work.

Prof. Nuria Montserrat, ICREA Research Professor and Group Leader at IBEC, has been awarded the National Research Award for Young Talent 2020 by the Catalan Government and the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRi). This category rewards young researchers who have stood out in their professional careers for the quality and excellence of their work, and comes with an economic prize of 10,000 € . This year the award recognises Professor Montserrat’s pioneering research in the field of bioengineering of pluripotent cells and generation of organoids, also known as mini-organs, for the study of diseases in humans. Learn more about this award and Prof. Montserrat’s work here.

Prof. Laura Lechuga, leader of the ICN2 Nanobiosensors and Bioanalytical Applications Group, received the “XVIII Burdinola Research Award” last week in recognition of her career path and important work in the field of nanosensors for medical applications. This prestigious honour was established in 1993 by Burdinola, a company based in Vizcaya specialised in the design and installation of laboratories, to encourage the scientific community and to support it. Prof. Lechuga was selected out of 16 outstanding candidates for her distinguished career, her relevant research in nanobiosensiors and nanomedicine, and for her effort towards transferring the technologies developed in her group to the clinical world and to market. More information about Prof. Lechuga’s award can be found here.

The Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) has received the National Innovation Award for the Creation of a Science-Based Company, a new category within the National Research Awards of Catalonia, for their spin-off Pulmobiotics S.L. Announced by the Government of Catalonia and the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRi), the awards are a social recognition of science, and promote the activities of researchers, funders, business professionals, entrepreneurs, and communicators in Catalonia. Pulmobiotics S.L is a preclinical company that uses synthetic biology to develop new treatments and vaccines for various types of lung diseases. Learn more about this award win here.

Finally, Miquel A. Pericàs and Antonio Echavarren from ICIQ have become members of the Academia Europaea. Prof. Echavarren is an international expert in gold catalysis. Over the years, he has authored some 300 scientific publications and received a host of awards, including the 2010 Gold Medal of the Royal Spanish Chemical Society and the 2015 Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society. He is the current President of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ). Prof. Pericàs has led the development of flow processes for organic synthesis, contributing to a more sustainable practice of chemical synthesis. He is co-author of some 320 scientific publications and 30 patents. Among others, he was a recipient of the Distinció de la Generalitat de Catalunya per a la Promoció de la Recerca Universitària award in 2000, the 2005 Narcís Monturiol Medal of Generalitat de Catalunya for Scientific and Technological Merits and the 2019 Gold Medal of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ). Both researchers have been elected as members of the Academia Europaea based on their achievements.

Congratulations to all BIST researchers involved, for these outstanding achievements!